July, August, September.....& October

Where did you go?
Obviously I have taken a 3 month or more hiatus from blogging, life has been busy and we have been keeping the road hot between Wilson and Monahans.  AND obviously this blog is a tad bit out of order and a little behind....I'll blame it on the pictures!

I know most of you probably could careless about a recap of the past three months but since I use my blog to keepsake the memories for Isabella, I'm going to try and keep it short, use pictures and hold on to the memories of the past three months that I can remember.

Here goes:

July:

We started July off right with Isabella's 3rd birthday.  We are 2 for 3 in swimming parties.  So next year should be a good year to go swimming.  It rained, it poured and it rained some more but the party still went on and Isabella had a wonderful time.  Thank you to everyone who floated in for the party!!


July 4th we enjoyed fireworks and the 2nd annual Roman Candle War, this year we had several more entries.  Pyros & Roman Candles make for an interesting night.  Everyone had loads of fun and left wishing we had purchased a years supply of Roman Candles....we are just counting down the days until New Years!


My dad was still having problems with his back so we headed out on the 6th to Plano for an appointment at the Texas Back Institute.  Isabella and I tagged along just because and for Ikea, shopping, good food, a quick visit with Uncle Christopher & Aunt Rachel, Auntie Lecia, swimming and Isabella LOVES to stay in a hotel!!  Unfortunately the doctors were unable to help my dad and just sent him back for the procedure in Lubbock which was scheduled for Oct. 12th.



July was BUSY!! 

We left July 22nd and headed out to Houston for a CLE (Continuing Legal Education) at the Westin Galleria (all expenses paid) so what better time than to make it a family vacation!  On our way we stopped in Kerrville to have dinner/ice cream and visit with a good friend (Johnna) that we hadn't seen in a couple of years.  While Alan attended what classes he had to attend, Isabella and I strolled around the Galleria and enjoyed the rooftop pool!  We took Isabella to the Children's Museum and although I hated it because it was so crowded with rude, unsupervised camp kids, Isabella had a BLAST and that's all that matters! 

We then spent a few nights with Aunt Corney and Brandon.  This was some much needed time with one of my best friends and her husband.  We celebrated Courtney's Birthday Saturday night and Sunday we all ventured to Galveston and spent the day at the beach, a first for Isabella.  She LOVED it and did not want to leave.  She still talks about going to the beach and sings "The beach, the beach, It's a habitat, it's a habitat!"

We then had to be in San Antonio by 7am on the 26th for yet another CLE.  My mom and Sandi met us in San Antonio so Isabella and I wouldn't be stuck in a hotel for a week with no car.  Alan had to attend more of the sessions at the CLE but he was able to join us for 1 of our 2 day admission to Sea World.  My mom, Sandi, Isabella and I also went to the Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch.  Isabella had us drive through it 3 times!  She really liked the Zebra's that I fed out of the palm of my hand but HATED the ostriches!  We did some shopping and gradually made our way back to Wilson.


That takes us right into August.

August 4th, I got to see one of my best friends from my childhood, Brandi!  She went out of her way on the way back to Colorado to drive through Lubbock just to see me.  I was so thrilled to get to spend a few hours with her and her three precious girls.  It had probably been over 10 years since we had seen each other and it was so nice to do some catching up and see each other.  I just hope that it's not another 10 years before we see each other again!

That next weekend we had a garage sale at Grandad Jackson's in Monahans.  He has a large backyard and we had LOTS of stuff.  We didn't quite get rid of all we would have liked to but we did make a pretty good amount of money.  What we didn't sale we donated to the local Senior Citizen store.
August 13th, Isabella had her 1st non-family sleep-over.  Jennifer kept Isabella over night so that Alan and I could have a night to ourselves to kinda celebrate our anniversary that was on the 12th.  Isabella had a really good time with Jennifer...they went to feed the duck at the playa lake, Isabella got her fingernails and toenails painted, they made cookies and who knows what else but I do know Isabella had a BLAST!!

 August 17th - Hollie & Caitlin came up and stayed a few days with us.  We had purchased tickets to

StoryTime LIVE!

 take the girls to Story Time Live in Lubbock along with Kyla & Kaegan.  I think everyone really enjoyed the show! 
We had such a good time while Hollie & Caitlin were visiting.  Hollie and I got some much need mommy talk and the girls had a blast playing outside, swimming, dressing up and just playing with all of Isabella's toys!  They are so cute together and I feel so blessed to have a good friend with a daughter the same age as Isabella.  They get along so well and enjoy each others company.


We also took Isabella for the first time to the place no parent should speak of or go, the place "Where A Kid Can Be a Kid".......Chuck E. Cheese's. This wasn't her first time to go because she went when she was a little over a yr old, for a birthday party. But this was the first time that she could go and enjoy it to it's entirety. She had a BLAST!! and Shhhh....don't tell anyone, it honestly wasn't that bad, we went on Saturday but a little later since my kiddo is a night owl. It wasn't crowded, it was clean and we actually saw a guy inside the playground equipment cleaning with antibacterial spray. To say the least, I was impressed. My only complaint is.....don't go to eat! It's expensive and not that great!

The weather was warm in August so we spent much of our weekends (when we had nothing else going on) playing in the pool or sprinkler with Isabella.

OH YEAH!  Isabella also took two summer sessions of dance with Julie Neace in Monahans and absolutely LOVED it.  So we enrolled her in dance for the 2010-2011 session.  She goes every Monday and gets so excited about going and seeing Mrs. Julie, Ms. Emily and all of the other little girls in her class.  She is learning ballet and tap.  From what she says and shows us I think ballet is probably her favorite.  She seems to be doing very good, I just hate we have to wait to May to see her perform.

Here are a few more pictures from August:
Isabella's 1st Pep Rally in 2010 & Isabella working @ Daddy's Office

Hello September!

As well as the past few months September was jam packed full as well.  We started off September with Tech's home opener.  It was SOOO HOT and so MISERABLE it almost made us regret renewing our season tickets! 
On the 11th they had a small "Balloon Festival" in Wollforth.  Supposedly there were suppose to be 15-20 balloons to take off but 5 were erected and only 4 took off.  It was really neat and I think we all enjoyed it despite the early morning rise and the chilly morning!!

That evening Isabella also tried to have her first camp out in our yard.  They put the tent up, complete with blankets, sleeping bag, pillows and even a fire pit and smores.  She lasted till about 11pm and then the little bug crawled in bed with me!  Just as I suspected! 



Meet Baby Layla - Isn't she just precious!



The 23rd was my mom's birthday so we headed to Monahans and spent the day and weekend with her.  Alan was in Padre for a CLE for his new job (details in future post), so we didn't get to see him till the weekend.  Lecia and Layla came down to stay a few days and the weekend with Nana Gina so we got to see baby Layla for the first time.  She is absolutely precious and Isabella is totally in love with her, well when she didn't cry while Isabella was holding her. 



This particular weekend was also Monahans's Homecoming.  My mom and I got Isabella a mum and took her to the Homecoming Pep Rally and Parade.  She was having a really good time until the firetruck sirens.  For some reason they scared the poor kid to death.  So bad it wasn't even worth her getting candy that was only a foot away from her.
The next week was Alan's birthday and we spent that time with him as well.
Big Thanks to Sandi who is now living and staying full time with my grandmother therefore allowing Alan, Isabella and I to be together more during the week.  Hopefully soon we will be able to find a house and make our home in Monahans.
Now October has SPOOKED up on me!
The Saturday of the 9th Alan volunteered to be the MC for a Tea Party Rally held here in Monahans, so we spent the weekend.  Alan nor Isabella had ever been to the Sandhills or "Sandy Mountains" as Isabella calls it, so we headed out early Saturday morning to spend an hour or so out there.  I think we all had a good time.  Isabella didn't want to leave but it was starting to warm up quite a bit and for those of you who have never been, the sand gets HOT!!!!


As I mention above my dad had his procedure on the 12th and seems to be getting around much better!
Last week I brought in several pumpkins from our garden and carved one and helped Isabella paint a few of them.  We had a good time doing this together.  She's still begging me for a big pumpkin to carve Swiper in.  I'm not sure that we will get around to that this year!


That about brings us current.  Unfortunately the calendar doesn't look to be slowing down a bit.  Lots going on and lots to look forward to....the pumpkin patch, Baby Emerson's birth, Halloween/Trunk R Treats, Thanksgiving, Polar Express, Santa Land, Holiday Happenings, more Tech football games, and Christmas....just to name a few!